"A sparkling example of the best kind of first-person storytelling in that its specificity succeeds in revealing universal truths…An extraordinary story full of humanity and life lessons from a man whose disability has largely removed him from society." -Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
A charming and moving debut memoir about how a man with a mystery illness saves a pigeon, and how the pigeon saves the man.
Featuring an exclusive audio conversation between Brian Buckbee and Carol Ann Fitzgerald.
On a spring evening in Montana, Brian Buckbee encounters an injured baby pigeon. Heartbroken after the loss of the love of his life and increasingly isolated by a mysterious illness that overtook him while trekking through Asia, Brian is unaware that this bird?who he names Two-Step?will change his life. Brian takes in Two-Step, and more injured birds, eventually transforming his home into a madcap bird rehabilitation and rescue center. As Brian and Two-Step grow closer, an unexpected kinship forms. But their paths won't converge forever: as Two-Step heals and finds love, Brian's condition worsens, and with his friend's release back into the world looming closer, Brian must decide where this story leaves him.
We Should All Be Birds follows Brian, unable to read or write due to a never-ending headache, as he dictates the end of his old life?as an adventurer, an iconoclastic university instructor, and endurance athlete?through his relationship with a pigeon that comes to define his present. Limited to dictation, Brian teams up with Carol Ann Fitzgerald, an editor who channels the details of his personal history to the pages. Raw and perceptive, delirious and devastating, We Should All Be Birds is an unflinching exploration of chronic illness, grief, connection, and the spectacular beauty of the natural world?and the humble pigeon. The surprising, heartwarming relationship between man and bird provides insight into what it means to love, to suffer, and to "never forget, even for a second, how big it all is." Brian Buckbee lives in Missoula, Montana. He is cofounder of The 406 Writers' Workshop. His stories have appeared in The Sun, The Georgia Review, The Mid-American Review, Shenandoah, The Southern Review, and elsewhere.
Carol Ann Fitzgerald is a former editor at The Sun and The Oxford American. Her fiction and nonfiction have been published in Ploughshares, The Oxford American, The Sun, The OA Book of Great Music Writing, and elsewhere. She lives in Chapel Hill. "Brian Buckbee gives his memoir a careful, unadorned narration. He pulls listeners in close as he weaves the story of his encounter with an injured pigeon in Montana after the loss of his partner and the onset of a debilitating neurological condition. As Buckbee describes taking in the bird he eventually names Two-Step, his pacing reflects the slowed, pensive tone of days shaped by grief and loss. He recounts the transformation of his home into a small rescue space as he begins caring for other birds and strengthening his bond with Two-Step. These hopeful elements contrast with the parallel decline of his own health. Sharing the weight of these events with listeners, Buckbee is hopeful and resigned as Two-Step is prepared for release."
